27 Arrested In San Jose, Modesto In Connection With Alleged Gambling Ring
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- Twenty-seven people were arrested Tuesday in Modesto and San Jose in the culmination of a six-month investigation by Santa Clara police into an alleged gambling ring, a police spokesman said Wednesday.
Santa Clara police detectives and officers from the San Jose Police Department and the Santa Clara County Special Enforcement Team executed search warrants at two homes in Modesto and two homes in East San Jose early Tuesday morning, Santa Clara police Lt. Kurt Clarke said.
One of the homes in San Jose was on Regan Street near South White Road and the other on Cape Jessup Drive just south of Berryessa Road, Clark said.
In all, 10 suspects were arrested on suspicion of illegal gaming and 17 others on allegations including illegal drug possession and child endangerment or on outstanding warrants, Clarke said.
At least 17 of the suspects were San Jose residents and the others included five people from Modesto, two from Morgan Hill and one from Sunnyvale, according to police.
All of the 27 people, including nine women, were booked into the Santa Clara County jail, he said.
Five illegal gaming machines, four firearms, a half-ounce of methamphetamine and $70,000 in cash were confiscated in the raids on the four homes.
Clarke said the arrests were the end result of a six-month probe into illegal gambling by Santa Clara police that led investigators to San Jose and as far away as Modesto.
"It's obvious to us it's a gambling ring," he said. "It's a significant bust for us."
He declined to say how Santa Clara police first became aware of the alleged ring.
Police said the raids were not connected to other gambling raids conducted by San Jose police in East San Jose early Tuesday, one at a home on Bouveron Court and another at a convenience store on Senter Road, he said.
San Jose police, carrying search warrants, arrested five people on suspicion of illegal gambling, possession of a stolen vehicle and arrest warrants and seized three illegal gaming machines from the home and 10 other illegal machines from inside the store.
